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The role of money

Traditional views of how companies work give money a central role, attributing it with all the powers that, here, would be assigned to the source. In other words, people follow the money, not the vision. However Koenig’s research shows that founders old and new never start their initiatives with money. They start with an idea they’re passionate about realising and invest themselves in it first, the aforementioned risk. It is their clarity and passion which draws the resources needed, including money but not just money. It is passion and vision, not money, that dictates whether an initiative succeeds.

When a company is low on money, the focus often moves towards the money, and away from the passion and vision. The company may then fold – not because of the lack of money – but because of the change in focus. Even without money, where there is passion and a vision there is always a next step.

That is not to say money should not play a part. The goal is not to avoid money either – that could be disastrous. But instead of it being the thing that determines what can be done, it is treated as one resource that can be deployed – along with many others – by the source in service of their vision.

Mistakenly pursuing money, over vision and passion, is a way of ‘losing sight’ of the source, and it’s this pursuit that can undo otherwise successful ventures.